I'm a little surprised they cancelled, given how Bangkok appears to exist in an almost constant state of civil unrest anyway, but there's no point holding an event if there's the possibility of things getting worse. Obviously, the organisers don't have the Bahrani security forces on hand like Bernie does.

And Dakar back to Dakar.

Bit hard with Dakar. What with the Sahara full of armed groups and all that.

Anyway - i went to the ROC last year in Bangkok - great event. And if people think the drivers really take it seriously - then they should actually go to the event - it's just a boys day out for these guys

Fastcake - its because the red shirts typicalloy occupy the stadium for their rallies

Nope, I agree with BRG, it should have stayed in Gran Canaria where it was a novel, fun party. It's suffered from what seems to be the standard marketing approach these days: "Hey this is a great idea that's working so well!" "Yeh, let's increase it's exposure by taking it somewhere else and changing nearly everything about it."

Nope, I agree with BRG, it should have stayed in Gran Canaria where it was a novel, fun party. It's suffered from what seems to be the standard marketing approach these days: "Hey this is a great idea that's working so well!" "Yeh, let's increase it's exposure by taking it somewhere else and changing nearly everything about it."

Neil

... and hold it in a country where virtually nobody gives a flying **** about motor sport.

You could pack out virtually any stadium or indoor arena in Europe, the Americas or Australia for an event like this. How about a temporary circuit in the middle of the MCG, Neil?

... and hold it in a country where virtually nobody gives a flying **** about motor sport.

You could pack out virtually any stadium or indoor arena in Europe, the Americas or Australia for an event like this. How about a temporary circuit in the middle of the MCG, Neil?

Nah, I still enjoyed the fun, almost amateur aspect that was the original. Once it went elsewhere, and became over-hyped and over-professionalized (for want of a better term), I lost interest in it. And while as a whole the people of the Canary Islands might not give much of a sexual congress about motorsport, they certainly seemed to get great enjoyment out of that original spectacle. Maybe, in some ways, it's a chicken or egg argument - do they not give a rumpy pumpy about motorsport because they had no exposure to it, or would they give much more of a beast with two backs if they retained that yearly exposure of the party that was RoC. Screwed if I know.

And while as a whole the people of the Canary Islands might not give much of a sexual congress about motorsport, they certainly seemed to get great enjoyment out of that original spectacle.

You do know that rallying is hugely popular there - they have a major international rally every year, plus local events? That was why the original ROC was run there, and why they built a track especially for it, and why a good crowd turned out to give enthusiastic support and why it was not be missed on TV. Unlike the recent increasingly sterile stadium events that have masqueraded as ROCs.